The 2010-2011 Student Government Association positions have been filled. Current junior class president and youth ministry major Bethany Carter will carry her job into her senior year as president. Senior Class President Christian studies major Geoff Payne has some advice for Carter. “Have fun,” he said. “It’s not worth it if you’re not having fun.” Carter said holding the position will be an honor. “The robing and ring ceremony really gave me an appreciation for the role which I am entrusted,” she said. “I feel very thankful and blessed for the opportunity, and I am definitely a little nervous in filling Geoff’s shoes. He did a great job this past year.” Payne said he has confidence in all the newly elected officers. “I think they’ll do just fine,” he said. “Rebecca O’Banion did a wonderful job teaching me all the things I needed to know for my position. Plus we really pioneered a new way of event planning for SGA …” he said. Payne is proud of the current senior class that he served. “I think we did a good job of finding a connection between our new university president and the student body,” he said. “We had a lot of ideas about how to make Senior Week bigger and more special for the students, but we never got to see any of those ideas come to fruition. Hopefully, next year the senior class officers can.” Sophomore math education major Shaina Ryan will become the new junior class president. Ryan said she is excited to serve. “I have been working toward moving up in SGA for the past year, and I have had a lot of help from current sophomore class offi cers to prepare me for this role. “I love the Student Government Association at UMHB, and I feel that by being junior class president I will be able to support the organization in a big way,” she said. One of the responsibilities of junior class is to sponsor homecoming. Carter said the new junior class will have to “hit the ground running,” on the plans. “My advice would be to start soon and fast,” Carter said. “Homecoming is even earlier next year, so they only have about a month to plan it when they get back. I would also say set clear limitations. They might not get everything they want out of Homecoming, but it’s not a failure if they don’t.” She also advises the junior class to hold its ground with the upperclassmen. “Don’t let the seniors scare you and push you around,” Carter said. “You’re in charge. They can handle it.” Ryan said her goal...

Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs S. Ward Casscells, M.D, was the guest speaker at the 2010 McLane Lecture. He is currently a professor of medicine and public health and a vice president at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Casscells’ April 14 lecture titled “How to Survive Bad Guys, Bad Luck, Bad Habits and Bad Health” focused on the challenges students may face in the future after they graduate. “If you are like my students, you want a fair chance at success,” Casscells said. “You want to find a career that you are good at, maybe one that you love.” Casscells recalled a statement that he heard while on a recent medical trip. “I wish I could remember who said, ‘If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life,’” he said. “I heard it again the other day in Haiti from somebody with no reason to be cheerful whatsoever; it is a great saying.” Owner of the Houston Astros and McLane Group Chairman Drayton McLane Jr. said he saw Casscells’ accomplishments years ago as a physician in Houston and a civic leader. “He went to Yale, got a degree in biology and graduated cum laude,” he said. “He then went to Harvard Medical School and graduated magna cum laude. As he went through business and life, he has accomplished many different things.” Dean of the College of Business Dr. Jim King said it would not be possible to have great national speakers at a small school without McLane’s influence. “Whoever Drayton brings in will challenge the students to serve others or to be a better person,” he said. “They don’t speak about how to become personally successful but how to become successful by serving others. Anyone who attends the lectures will always hear something that will personally speak to them.” McLane said Casscells is credited with turning around a $45 billion health and education system with 137,000 employees, 10 million patients in 900 clinics and hospitals in 100 countries. He accomplished this during his position as assistant secretary of defense, April 2007 through April 2009. Concerning the new federal healthcare bill, Casscells was not in favor of it in the beginning. “I thought about the scriptural guidance … love your neighbor as yourself,” he said. Casscells said this was not helpful to him. “But then a voice whispered in my ear ‘as to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me,’” he said. “I could not escape … that we needed to have this healthcare bill passed and reform on it...

During spring break, the majority of college students plan vacations to relax and have fun. However, this was not the case for 13 UMHB students. They decided to use their time off from school to reach out to the people of Haiti. The students teamed up with Assistant Director of Campus Activities Jeff Sutton, Hope for the Hungry Director Jen Sutton and Founder Dan Kirkley. Junior double major theology philosophy/ psychology Brittany Beltran said the organization plans a spring break trip every year. “Hope for the Hungry invites people to come,” she said. “They accept applications and form a team.” Beltran said her original plan for the spring was to go on the Baptist Student Ministry England Mission trip in May. “The Lord kept putting Haiti on my heart,” she said. “On the day that I was having the worst doubts was the day that the earthquake happened. It was a confirmation for me that Haiti was where I was supposed to go.” Sophomore social work major Bethany Franz said the group worked in Guibert, Haiti. “Hope for the Hungry has two orphanages in Haiti,” she said. “We worked with the boys’ orphanage, and the girls are located in Ferrier, Haiti.” Franz said there are more than 60 children in the two orphanages. “Our location was very close to Port Au Prince, where the earthquake was really bad,” she said. “Fifty-eight percent of homes were destroyed there.” The magnitude 7.0 earthquake that shook Haiti’s capital Jan. 12 damaged the school and church near the Guibert orphanage. “Only kindergarten and first grade level students were able to attend school under a few 10 x 10 tents,” Franz said. “We built 10 temporary classrooms out of boards and plywood walls to make the building and attached a tin roof.” Beltran said the rooms were built on local basketball courts. “We became attached to the people that we met,” she said. “The people there have huge hearts. They had practically nothing and would invite us into their home and want to give us what they had.” The team also repaired 11 rafters in the church. “The Sunday after we left, the church was able to hold a service, and the Monday after we left, more than 300 students were able to go back to school,” Franz said. Sophomore Christian studies major Jonathan Dean said the people in Haiti are so hopeful for their future and are grateful for what they still have. “It shocked me emotionally,” he said. “I anticipated hurt and broken people, but they were so thankful. Even for the little piece of cloth they had for a roof and...

Bethany Greeson, a freshman international business major, grew up in Thailand. Through her high school, she worked in refugee camps for the Burmese people outside of Mae Sot, a city in her country. She and several other students played sports with the children. Greeson said it was her first experience with the problems that are going on in Burma. Greeson said her high school encounters inspired her idea. “Every year we also did a 5k run to raise money and awareness for the people of Burma,” she said. “Mike McCarthy and Jeff Sutton ensured me that the Campus Activities Board could sponsor the event, and so they helped me with everything.” Greeson explained the situation in Burma. “The government there is a dictatorship and the military, which is called a junta, is invading the different ethnic groups in the mountains,” she said. “They are taking their land, destroying their villages, raping women and causing child labor. They put mines around the villages just to kill people randomly. They are oppressing the people for no good reason but to take their land.” Greeson is the eighteenth person in her family to attend UMHB. Her older brother Dennis is a senior. “I visited in high school and fell in love with the campus and community,” she said. “Upon my arrival here in the fall, I talked with Mike and Jeff back in October about doing a walk for Burma awareness.” On Feb. 27, the 2k and 5k walk was held at Miller Springs near the Belton Dam and was titled The Burma Experience. “There are a lot of nature hiking trails there,” Greeson said. “I also got 35 people from a Burmese church in Austin to come that morning and share their testimonies and sing songs.” Junior social work major Stacey Davidson helped pick up the Burmese that morning. “I was expecting it to be awkward because they couldn’t speak that much English,” she said. “But it was really good, and it was an experience that I wouldn’t trade.” Davidson said she enjoyed the walk. “I got involved because it seemed like a new event with a new spin on missions, something like we had never done here. The weather was also really beautiful that day. Everything went perfect.” Greeson said the awareness walk had laminated signs sharing stories and prayer requests posted on stakes throughout the trails for participants to read. “We wanted to inspire the participants and to give them information to know how they were helping the Burmese people,” she said. Freshman social work major Joy Smedley attended a church service with the Burmese people. “I was able...

Assistant Director of Clinical Services Samuel S. Lample at Remuda Ranch treatment centers for eating and anxiety disorders spoke on campus Feb. 25 and 26. Lample has spent nearly nine years working with children, adolescents and families who are recovering from an eating disorder and also spent 18 months developing and directing ReddStone, a program for boys with eating disorders. “I started fresh out of grad school at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. after studying counseling,” he said. “About two years ago, Remuda opened ReddStone, and we had 24 boys, ages 8-17. It is what piqued my interest for males with eating disorders.” Lample has authored or co-authored several articles on eating disorders . He believes males need to develop an emotional language. “It is time for men in our culture to become emotionally literate and put off the typical stereotype of man as having to be a strong, silent, stoic and an unemotional rock,” Lample said. “This world is too relational, and a man needs to feel comfortable with words in order to connect with the world around us.” Health Services Coordinator Debbie Rosenberger said she wanted Lample to speak because the issue is present on every college campus. “UMHB is part of the real world too (and) eating disorders are present here,” she said. “If you think someone has an eating disorder, get it out in the open. It can be a relief for many people who need help.” Director of Counseling, Testing and Health Services Nate Williams said, based on UMHB statistics, the counseling department has at least two people with an eating disorder on its client list. “In my opinion, that number is a lot lower than what it really is,” Williams said. “Any student can come and seek us for counseling for his or herself or someone they know.” Based off various studies, Lample said one million males in the U.S. suffer from eating disorders and 25 percent of those cases are in pre-adolescent males. “It is more common for women to experience them but males do too, and I think that people forget that,” he said. He advises seeking help from family members. “If you feel like you personally have an eating disorder, you need to tell a responsible person in your life,” Lample said. “Next, go to your personal caregiver and then get counsel.” Rosenberger said the university has many resources. “Students can use the UMHB intranet and go to the Health Center site,” she said. “By clicking on the student health care link, a list of different health options are available, including eating disorders. “ Williams said any student has...

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The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor prepares students for leadership, service, and faith-informed discernment in a global society.